Resign, Mr. Editor

The facts of the disgrace of Francis B. Coombs Jr., who is managing editor of The Washington Times, constitute a disgrace for every staff member of the newspaper. Red flags emerged in mid-2004 at the Republican National Convention in New York City, when Coombs made inappropriate sexual advances in a taxicab upon public relations contractor Melissa Hopkins, and actually physically groped and kissed her on the mouth against her will. Mrs. Hopkins referred the matter in an official complaint to The Washington Times human resources director, Randall Casseday, recently indicted for wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to an undercover police officer whom he believed to be a horny underage female. Mr. Coombs' and Mr. Casseday's aberrant, predatory -- and possibly criminal -- behavior was an open secret among the staff of The Washington Times. The evidence was strong enough, long enough ago that the senior editor and managers of The Washington Times should have relieved Messrs. Coombs and Casseday of their respective responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened.

Wesley Pruden Jr. learned about the Coombs and Casseday incidents as they occurred, but did nothing for the victims and covered up the sexual abuse incidents. The matters were not pursued at all. Moreover, all available evidence suggests that the newspaper's leadership did not share anything related to these matters with anyone in positions to provide help to the victims.

Now the scandal should unfold on the front pages of the newspaper and on television screens, and transcripts of internal Washington Times documents regarding these matters should emerge and doubts are rightly raised about the forthrightness of the newspaper's stewards. Some staff members who have been treated badly by Coombs and Pruden are attempting to make this "a Washington Times scandal," and they shouldn't; the newspaper has contributed more than its share of characters in the tawdry history of its editorial and sexual scandals. We had Mark Tapscott as we had Barney Frank and Steve Gobie, Ralph Hallow and Millie Batista, Wesley Pruden and Suzanne Fields, Ken Hanner and all his fun with female interns and staffers in the National Arboretum. All is fun in love and war. Sexual animals come in all shapes, sizes and partisan hues, in institutions within and without government. When predators are found they must be dealt with, forcefully and swiftly. This time the offender is a managing editor, and the newspaper can't simply "get ahead" of the scandal by competing to make the most noise in calls for a full investigation. The time for that is long past.

Editors Wesley Pruden and Fran Coombs must do the only right thing, and resign their positions at once. Either they were grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to the 2004 revelations -- or they deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. They gave phony answers to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did they know and when did they know it? Messrs. Pruden and Coombs have forfeited the confidence of the newspare, its readers and advertisers, and they cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine their own inept performance.

The chief executive officer of the newspaper's parent company, News World Communications, should choose successors. We nominate Arnaud de Borchgrave of Washington, D.C., whose prior distinguished service to The Washington Times ensures that he has no dog in this fight. He has a long and principled career, and is respected on all sides. Mr. de Borchgrave would preside over the remaining life of The Washington Times in a manner best suited for a full and exhaustive investigation until a new editor-in-chief and new managing and deputy managing editors are selected to run the newspaper effectively.